ROBOTICS MAINTENANCE TASK ASSESSMENT

THE USE OF NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL (NBC) WARFARE AGAINST U.S. ARMED FORCES WOULD DRASTICALLY REDUCE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ARMY AVIATION UNITS BY DEGRADING VITAL MAINTENANCE CAPABILITIES. A REDUCTION IN THIS TREMENDOUSLY IMPORTANT MILITARY RESOURCE IS UNACCEPTABLE. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO PERFORM AN IN-DEPTH ASSESSMENT OF THE FEASIBILITY OF AND BENEFITS FROM THE USE OF STATEOF-THE-ART ROBOTICS TO ASSIST MECHANICS IN THE FIELD MAINTENANCE OF HELICOPTERS IN AN NBC ENVIRONMENT. ISOLATION AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE WHICH IS PERTINENT TO THE NBC-HELICOPTER PROBLEM WILL DETERMINE THE CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-ART OF ROBOTICS AS IT RELATES TO THE PROBLEM. AN ASSESSMENT WILL THEN BE MADE TO DETERMINE TECHNOLOGIES WHICH ARE POTENTIALLY CAPABLE OF ASSISTING IN PERFORMING CRITICAL MAINTENANCE TASKS WHICH HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED. FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED INCLUDE THE BENEFITS VS. SHORTFALLS, PAY-OFFS IN TERMS OF TIME/MANPOWER SAVINGS, INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY, EFFICIENCY, RELIABILITY, MAINTAINABILITY, AND OVERALL SYSTEMS EFFECTIVENESS.